A voice for human rights

GERMANY is again to become a member of the United NationsHuman Rights Council. The UN General Assembly recently elected Germany to the Geneva-based body for the second time to serve from 2013 to 2015. Germany has actively supported the work of the Human Rights Council from the outset and was one of its first members between 2006 and 2009. “The election is a vote of confidence in Germany and confirmation of our consistent human-rights policy worldwide,” said Germany’s Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. He expressed his thanks for the global support the German candidature received. Westerwelle said German foreign policy regards the Human Rights Council as the key international institution for the protection of human rights and the further development of human-rights standards. At the election in New York in mid-November 2012, 127 of the 193 UN member states voted in favour of Germany becoming a member of the Council. It is made up of a total of 47 member states which are chosen on the basis of “equitable geographical distribution”. In addition to Germany, the United States and Ireland were also elected in the Western Group (WEOG).